Last updated: September 25, 2023
Place
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Rotunda
NPS Antoine Thomas
Quick Facts
Location:
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Designation:
Historic Site
Amenities
5 listed
Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Restroom, Wheelchair Accessible
"...I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800
All the chamber inscriptions are taken from the writings of Thomas Jefferson. This inscription consists of three-foot tall letters carved into the interior marble wall at the bottom of the rotunda. These words underscore Thomas Jefferson as an American contributor to the Enlightenment movement of the 18th Century, and his belief in the primacy of the power of the human mind.